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Obama Administration to hold roundtable discussion at Chatham University

As part of the White House's Startup America initiative, senior Obama Administration officials will visit Pittsburgh to meet with entrepreneurs and hear directly from them on ideas and suggestions for reducing barriers and improving regulations to build a more supportive environment for entrepreneurship and innovation.

Officials attending the event include Assistant Secretary of Commerce John Fernandez, Deputy Director of the US Patent and Trademark Office Teresa Rae and Senior Economist at the Council of Economic Advisors Ronnie Chatterji.

The Startup America initiative will support startups and entrepreneurs, giving them the tools and resources to grow America's economy and win the future. Using the input from the roundtables and broader public participation, the Administration will produce a report highlighting ideas to streamline and simplify unnecessary barriers to America's entrepreneurs and innovators.

What:

Startup America: Reducing Barriers Roundtable

Where:

Chatham University
1147 Murray Hill Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15232

When:

9:00am-12:30pm
April 28, 2011

Entrepreneurs and small business owners interested in attending the events can learn more by emailing reducingbarriers@sba.gov. Anyone unable to attend the Pittsburgh event can submit their ideas for reducing barriers to http://reducingbarriers.ideascale.com. Ideas submitted to the online platform will also be included in the final report.

FACT SHEET: WHITE HOUSE LAUNCHES "STARTUP AMERICA" INITIATIVE

Public and Private Partners Invest in American Entrepreneurs

"Startup America" is a White House initiative to celebrate, inspire, and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship throughout the nation. This coordinated public/private effort brings together an alliance of the country's most innovative entrepreneurs, corporations, universities, foundations, and other leaders, working in concert with a wide range of federal agencies to dramatically increase the prevalence and success of America's entrepreneurs.

This mission to promote entrepreneurship is a core component of President Obama's national innovation strategy for achieving sustainable growth and quality jobs. Not only do startups bring a wealth of transformative innovations to market, they also play a critical role in job creation across the United States. Those entrepreneurs who are intent on growing their businesses create the lion's share of these new jobs, in every part of the country and in every industry. Moreover, it is entrepreneurs in clean energy, medicine, advanced manufacturing, information technology, and other fields who will build the new industries of the 21st century, and solve some of our toughest global challenges.

The core goals of Startup America are to increase the number and scale of new high-growth firms that are creating economic growth, innovation, and quality jobs; celebrate and honor entrepreneurship as a core American value and source of competitive advantage; and inspire and empower an ever-greater diversity of communities and individuals to build great American companies.

When signing the Small Business Jobs Act, and again when proclaiming the first-ever National Entrepreneurs' Day this past fall, President Obama called on leaders from throughout the business, nonprofit, and university communities to join together with his Administration's efforts to promote the success of more entrepreneurs across America. The initiatives announced today are the initial response to this "call to action," uniting a range of public and private commitments to:

Expand access to capital for high-growth startups throughout the country;

Expand entrepreneurship education and mentorship programs that empower more Americans not just to get a job, but to create jobs;

Strengthen commercialization of the about $148 billion in annual federally-funded research and development, which can generate innovative startups and entirely new industries;

Identify and remove unnecessary barriers to high-growth startups; and

Expand collaborations between large companies and startups.

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION COMMITMENTS

Expanding Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs

The Small Business Administration (SBA) will commit $2 billion as a match to private sector investment over the next five years in promising high-growth companies. Using existing authority, with no new cost to taxpayers, and the operating infrastructure of the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program, SBA-guaranteed bonds will match private capital raised by these privately-owned and managed investment funds and serve as a catalyst for accelerating capital support for startups and high-growth firms.

$1 Billion Impact Investment Fund: SBA will commit $1 billion to those funds that invest growth capital in companies located in underserved communities. This will include investing in economically distressed areas as well as those companies in emerging sectors such as clean energy. SBA will provide up to a 2:1 match to private capital raised by these funds, partnering with private investors to target "impact" investments.

$1 Billion Early-Stage Innovation Fund: Early-stage companies face difficult challenges accessing capital, particularly those without the necessary assets or cash flow for traditional bank funding. For high-growth companies, the gap is particularly acute in the so called "Valley of Death" for financing rounds between $1-4 million. Over the past 4 years only 6% of all venture capital has been deployed in that stage, with 70% of the financings going to only three states â€“ California, Massachusetts and New York. The Innovation Fund will target this gap, providing a 1:1 match to private capital raised by early stage seed funds.

Administration Will Propose Permanent Elimination of the Capital Gains Tax on Certain Small Business Stock:

The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 provides a 100-percent exclusion from tax for capital gains realized on the sale of certain small business stock held for more than five years. The amount of gain eligible for the exclusion is limited to the greater of $10 million or ten times the taxpayer's basis in the stock. This provision applies to qualified small business stock issued after December 31, 2010, and before January 1, 2012. The Administration's FY12 budget proposal would make this provision permanent, increasing private sector investment in small businesses.

The Treasury Department is working on a set of regulatory reforms to the existing New Markets Tax Credit, which the Administration is proposing to expand from $3.5 billion to $5 billion in its FY2012 budget proposal. These reforms will make it easier for community development entities to attract private-sector funds for investment in startups and small businesses operating in lower-income communities. The reforms, which are expected to go into effect later this year, will relax the reinvestment requirements for community development entities investing in certain operating businesses.

Treasury Dept. Convenes Small Business and Entrepreneurs Access to Capital Conference:

The Treasury Department will host a March 2011 conference to explore access to capital for small businesses. Access to capital is vital to spurring investment in small and innovative businesses, promoting job creation, and fueling sustainable economic growth. A broad range of options to help small businesses access the capital they need to expand and grow will be discussed. More details will be released in the coming weeks.

Connecting Mentors and Entrepreneurs

SBA and Department of Energy Launch Mentorship Program for Clean Tech Startups:

The SBA, in partnership with the Department of Energy (DOE) and Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), will fund four private business accelerators. These four programs will have proven records of success and use the funding to support an additional 100 clean energy startups across the country. These accelerators will provide intensive mentorship from seasoned entrepreneurs to a selection of the most promising new companies previously funded by DOE and ARPA-E. This pilot program is the first step in the development of a large, distributed network of entrepreneurs, mentors, and startup accelerators.

Department of Veterans Affairs Launches New Incubators to Help Vets Start High-Growth Businesses:

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will establish two of the first integrated business accelerators focused solely on helping our Veterans launch and sustain their own businesses. The first accelerator program offers an interactive website that provides a comprehensive roadmap of the starting a small business and provides assistance in utilizing the diverse set of resources available to support Veteran entrepreneurs. The second program includes a business incubator facility, located in Waukesha, Wisconsin, where early-stage Veteran-owned businesses are mentored by experienced entrepreneurs and trained to develop the skills needed to build a successful businesses.

Making Government Work for Entrepreneurs

Top Administration Leaders Announce National Tour to Support Public Participation in Removing Barriers to Entrepreneurship:

The President has issued an Executive Order and accompanying memorandums to federal agencies to identify and take steps to eliminate or reduce processes that are outdated or overly burdensome to entrepreneurs. As part of this effort to receive feedback from entrepreneurs on the front lines, the Administration will launch online suggestion tools for the public and go on the road to innovation centers like Silicon Valley and North Carolina's Research Triangle Park to hear from entrepreneurs about the challenges they face, share current Administration efforts to support entrepreneurship, and to streamline or eliminate the biggest barriers to startup growth.

DC-to-VC events are targeted engagements between federal leadership and venture capitalists, innovators, and entrepreneurs, focusing on how to address emerging opportunities while simultaneously improving our country's health through better, more efficient care delivery. Led by the Chief Technology Officer of the Department of Health and Human Services, in cooperation with the White House, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center, an expanded series of workgroups and discussion roundtables are slated for 2011 that build upon significant previous successes.

Accelerating Innovation

The EDA's i6 Green, which will be implemented in partnership with six federal departments and agencies, builds on the success of last year's inaugural i6 Challenge. This program, with anticipated funding up to $12 million, is designed to encourage innovative, ground-breaking ideas that accelerate technology commercialization, new venture formation, and job creation across the United States. This year's challenge focuses on both regional economic development and environmental sustainability. i6 Green will reward communities that utilize Proof of Concept Centers to accelerate technology-led economic development in pursuit of a vibrant, innovative clean economy. These centers will be supported by regional partnerships that draw upon a wide range public, corporate, university, non-profit, and philanthropic stakeholders.

The USPTO is pursuing an Enhanced Examination Timing Control Initiative (Three-track Examination) to give innovators more control over the application processing and support a more efficient market for innovation. Under this initiative, applicants would be able to request prioritized examination (Track I), obtain processing under the current procedure (Track II), or request a delay lasting up to 30 months (Track III). Entrepreneurs who are seeking capital, or accelerated market penetration, may benefit from the prioritized examination offered by the Track I option. In contrast, those entrepreneurs working to commercialize more embryonic ideas may prefer the extended timeframe associated with Track III. Another benefit to entrepreneurs will be shorter overall examination queues.